Ultimate Jam Night at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, CA on 05-Apr-2016

Ultimate Jam Night’s second week at the Whisky Kick(ed) Up the Jams with a special appearance by Wayne Kramer, Mike Watt and Mike Doughty.

The second week of the Ultimate Jam NightÂ residencyÂ atÂ Whisky A Go Go managed to top the previous week with stellar performances from Joe Retta, Ralph Saenz, and Debby Holiday. Â But, it was the special performance by Wayne Kramer (MC5), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, Firehose) and Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing) that elevated it to a whole new level. Along with Matt Starr on drums, the group performed “TV Eye,” “Light Will Keep Your Heart Beating,” and “Kick Out the Jams,” to end the first act.

The evening started off with a brief acoustic set from Heavy Mellow, who blend metal with flamenco, starting their set with a riveting version of the Foo Fighters “Pretender.”

The first act began with the house band joined by Joey Malone (Johnny Depp and the Kids,)Â Walter Ino (Survivor,) and Rich Redmond (Jason Aldean) for “Lights Out in London,” and “Say What You Will.” Pacific Records recording artist Felice Garcia was out next to take the lead on “All Right Now,” joined by Reinhold Schwarzwald on sax.

Next, the energy got turned up to 11 as Paulie Z, Johnny Martin, and Alex Kane were joined by Buckcherry’s Stevie D., and Xavier Muriel for “Bulls on Parade,” and “Bomb Track.”

Dan Potruch, Paul Ill, Mark Tremalgia and Randy Mitchell, collectively known as The Disreputable Few, were up next with “Elizabeth Redd,” and “Ain’t Who I Was.” And then Joe Retta (Dio’s Disciples, Heaven & Earth, Trans Siberian Orchestra, The Sweet) was joined by Sean McNabb (Lynch Mob,) Mitch Perry, and Rich Redmond for “Bring it Home,” and a spot on version of The Sweet’s “Set Me Free.” Kenny Kanowski took the stage next with “Love Reigns Over Me.” and then Mike Watt, Wayne Kramer and Mike Doughty brought the first act to it’s climax with their previously mentioned set.

The second set started with a roar, asÂ Steel Panther’s Michael Starr, aka Ralph Saenz,Â was joined by Stephen Chesney (Atomic Punks,) and Joe Lester (Atomic Punks) for a blistering version of “Hot for Teacher.” The performance featured burlesque queen Tonya Kay go-go dancing in front as an homage to the Whisky’s roots. They followed that up with high-energy versions of “Pretty Woman,” and “Bottoms Up.”

Debby Holiday followed with a glorious cover of The Baby’s “Head First,” and then stunned the crowd with her magnificent version of Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby.”

Micki Free (Shalimar) was up next for his Ultimate Jam Night debut, joined by Brendan Buckley (Shakira,) Mitch Perry, and Julia Lage (Kicking Harold) for “Stone Free,” and “Rock My Plimsoul.”

About The Author

Kathy is a freelance concert photographer based in Los Angeles, CA.
Kathy started photographing bands in the early 80s, where she was a fixture on the L.A. rock scene. She returned to concert photography in 2011, starting Wicked Goddess Photography.
She is editor-in-chief of Spice of Wickedness, and regularly contributes content to several sites, including Loudwire, Diffuser, and Find Your Seen.
Kathy can be found on twitter @wickedgoddess.